NEW YORK — Arriving back in the U.S. after a 37,000-mile trip around the world — most of it overland in a '96 Toyota Land Cruiser — I made a funny mistake. I'd survived landslides, jungles, breakdowns and accidents, monkeys stealing my breakfast, cops shaking me down, border guards turning me back, and desert thugs looking to take my precious water. Finally I got through customs in Los Angeles, flashed my colorful passport to the officers and expected to see friends who'd promised to meet me — but no one was there.

After asking someone what day it was, I realized my mistake. It was Saturday. I'd told them I was arriving Sunday. I'd forgotten I would cross the international dateline somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and go back in time a day.

With teams using more than 100 unique apparatuses to launch globular projectiles a half-mile or more, the 27th annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin event is our pick as November’s Weird Festival of the Month.

I thought of Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days." He won a challenge to get around the world in 80 days only because he got an extra 24 hours by traveling eastward. I got the same bonus, gaining one more day on this planet as I circumnavigated the globe toward the rising sun. I was on the road 456 days, but according to the calendar, it was only 455 days.

I'd set out back in November of 2009, driving from New York to Buenos Aires, then South Africa to Iran, through India and Bangladesh and around southeast Asia before flying to the West Coast and driving home to New York. Before I left, I worried about health and safety, got vaccinations and outfitted my truck with a pop-up tent and other equipment. But aside from a few encounters with extreme weather, corrupt officials, and individuals in various places a little too interested in my possessions, I got home fine.

I even stayed within my $50,000 budget, including the $14,000 I spent to buy and equip the truck before I left. Most other expenditures were also vehicle-related: truck repairs, $7,000; shipping the vehicle across oceans, $12,000; and gas to propel myself around the world, $7,600 (ranging from $1.50 a gallon in Yemen to more than $5 in some parts of Africa).

There were some disappointments and changes of plans along the way, mainly due to political instabilities and difficulties getting visas and crossing borders. Pakistan would not issue a visa due to flooding and other issues, and I didn't have time for the necessary paperwork to go through Russia or China.

But I had plenty of adventures in the places I did reach. My truck got stuck in the mud overnight on top of a 13,000-feet-high mountain in Peru; I got a military escort from Yemen to Oman with machine gun-toting soldiers, and I made a mad dash to escape scam artists in Delhi who took me to a fake tourism office. I was their perfect victim, desperate for a place to crash after an exhausting night traveling from Iran. They tried to book me in a $150-a-night hotel, insisting that the cheap places I'd picked had closed or burned down. I finally agreed, then asked to check my e-mail on their computer. I quickly booked a hotel for $22 and fled out the door to the relative freedom of the street.

A study in contrasts
Traveling around the world you can't help but be struck by the contrasts from country to country. Shortly after arriving in Africa, I was startled to see an elephant crossing a road. Months later, I had a similar surprise when I saw pigs in India after traveling in the Muslim world where pork is forbidden. And although I dreamed longingly about the cold last summer while in the deserts of Ethiopia and Djibouti, the minus-15 degree temperatures of winter in Seoul, South Korea, sent me running to the hot public baths.

I was also struck by how high-tech Seoul is, even on the subway, where there are free terminals for Internet access, giant touch screens for information and maps, devices to disinfect hands and other gadgets. I realized I was the only one on the train not watching TV or playing games on a cell phone. What a contrast with other places I had been through. It occurred to me that while half the planet's population lives in a virtual reality, the other half can't get enough to eat.

Even for me, carrying a wallet garnished with my life savings, it was hard to eat well in remote places, particularly poor desert countries in Africa with no restaurants and few markets. In Laos, I met a smiling hunter who traps rats to eat. Before we parted ways, I gave him some dry pork skin I had bought, thinking it was potato chips. In Japan, few people spoke English and the food was so different that I hardly ever knew what I was eating. But there were also many delicious highlights on my trip, including Thanksgiving in Thailand. Instead of turkey, I feasted with a friend for $20 on spring rolls, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, egg-stuffed fish cakes and sauteed morning glories. We also had a pork dish, which I told the waitress to prepare as if it was for locals. It was so hot it nearly killed us.

With teams using more than 100 unique apparatuses to launch globular projectiles a half-mile or more, the 27th annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin event is our pick as November’s Weird Festival of the Month.

After traveling in Muslim countries that prohibit alcohol, it was also quite a contrast to spend a few days on the Thai resort island of Phuket, known for extreme nightlife. Most pictures of my adventures land on my blog at TransWorldExpedition.com, but I decided not to post all the images from the island. I have a bunch of schoolchildren following me, and what happens in Phuket at night is quite simply alarming, even for someone who saw as many things as I did.

Traveling the world also makes you appreciate the level of organization that exists in Europe and the U.S. In most places, getting answers or information is a challenge. Many things are cheaper in developing countries, but you never know what kind of service you will get. Governments are often inefficient and sometimes corrupt, with officials asking for bribes in addition to reams of meaningless paperwork. Of course, locals are always the first victims.

Worst drivers: Bangladesh
Having driven 37,000 miles on four continents, I can also say that in my experience, the worst drivers' trophy should be awarded to Bangladesh, where rules of the road are nonexistent and cars bump each other like it's a carnival game. On a typical day of driving the surprising roads of Dhaka, a bicycle crashed into the side of my truck shortly before I carved a hole in the flank of a bus with my front bumper. As I tried to extricate myself from the mess, cars crashed into me front and rear, but none of the drivers stopped or cared. As I sat in traffic for hours going nowhere, a driver lost control of his bus on the other side of the street and the passengers fell from a bridge into a river. The next day, I read in the newspaper that many of them died.

Despite their out-of-this world driving habits, customs of hospitality are deep-rooted in Bangladesh, as well as in other Muslim countries like Yemen and Iran. In Bangladesh, locals went out of their way to give travelers preferential treatment. I never had to stand in line, and twice, passersby who decided I was being overcharged mobbed the rickshaw driver and cigarette vendor I was dealing with in order to get me a fair price. My route also took me through many countries where few travelers dare to go, and inhabitants were so thrilled to have visitors that I was often invited to share meals, have tea, or spend the night in the home of welcoming strangers. In government offices in Dhaka, the same poster has welcomed visitors for many years. It reads: "Visit Bangladesh before tourists come."

Check out the latest photos from msnbc.com readers and vote for your favorite. When you're done, upload your own vacation shots.
Find us on Facebook

In some places, I connected with old friends, friends of friends, or strangers who read about my trip and tracked me down by e-mail. Getting home-cooked meals or taking a tour with locals was priceless. But in other places, I went for weeks without having a normal conversation. And sometimes, overtures from locals were unsettling. In India, for example, whenever I stopped, I would soon have a group of strangers asking questions, opening the truck doors, looking around. They would hang around for hours, watching me eat, read or wash my clothes. I would park at night in gas stations and wake up to find 10 people awaiting me. If I tried to cook or organize my supplies, little things would disappear into the crowd. One morning it took me hours to find a new gas tank cap to replace the one that inexplicably disappeared as I got gas.

As my travels came to an end, one reader asked if I'd found what I was looking for on the long road around the planet.

Well, I was not sure what I was looking for when I left, but I feel wiser about the state of the world. I may not be smarter or better, but I am stronger, and I have more stories to share than the average person. I've been away for 15 months and after seeing many places, I reckon New York City with its diversity is where I feel most at home. I intend to stick around and try to adjust to a sedentary life. My next adventure I will have in common with many American as I try to find a job. But I intend to stay in touch with those I met on my adventure, along with readers who followed me online, sent me a donation for gas or posted a comment. As I made my way around the world, you made me feel I was never alone.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.